Swatch: FEVERlacquer - You and I'll Be Safe and Sound (Pic Heavy)

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all having a great day! 

About a month ago, I was extremely fortunate to win a couple giveaways.  One of the prizes I won was the amazing polish I'm going to show you today.  I've had it for about 2 weeks now but I was hoping for good weather to try and get some outside shots but I've given up.  This spring is so terrible weather wise and any hints of good weather have come when I'm at work.

Anyhow, on to the polish...

A blurry shot to show all the holo

one last shot under different lighting

This polish is absolutely stunning!!  It's got all the bells and whistles.  It is packed with holo micro glitter and medium hex holos.  The base is an amazing shifting shimmer.  It mostly shifts from a rose to a gold-bronze but I kept getting flashes of a khaki green and a more brassy bronze.  Honestly as awesome as this looks here, it is easily 20x more awesome in person.

This was how the polish came...

It's a Diaper!! LOL. Perfect for padding and absorption.

And now for some bottle shots!!



Isn't it gorgeous?  I'm in awe of it.  Casandra of FEVERlacquer made this amazing polish specifically for the giveaway so there isn't another like it.  However, she did make a sister polish to this one which you can see on the FEVERlacquer facebook page.  You can also follow Casandra's polish blog The Mani-Logues or the FEVERlacquer blog or the FEVERlacquer store .

Thank you so much to Casandra for creating this amazing polish and for giving it away.  I feel very fortunate to have this polish in my collection.  Oh, also, Casandra included a little pot of an amazing loose powder eye shadow.  It is gorgeous and she says FEVERlacquer will be selling eyeshadow in future so be on the lookout.  If this one is an indication, they are going to be stunning.

What do you think? Awesome, no?

Til next time,
Amanda

My Birthday Nails!

Hi Everyone!

I'm having a lovely Birthday today! Thanks for all the well wishes.  =)

I wanted to quickly show you my Birthday nails.  I made them to match a new blouse I got as a present.

The base colour is a gorgeous creme blackened teal.  It's Revlon Fashionista and the dotted accent nail is done with Gosh Rusty & China Glaze Aquadelic & Fashionista again.  I really liked this base colour a lot and the nails looked great with the top.

What do you guys think?

Til next time,
Amanda

An Orange Glow

Hi Everyone!

It's been a couple days.  Sorry!  I was enjoying wearing my parrots and I don't have a backlog of swatches.

Today I've got some neon nails with simple nail art.

Photos just don't do the brightness justice.  Indoors it is bright.  Outdoors, it is BRIGHT.  Even on a pretty blah day.  I picked this polish up at claire's.  I couldn't resist.  It's that bright plus it GLOWS in the dark! Yay.  And here's the gimmick that got me...there's a light in the cap you turn on to 'charge' the polish.  This polish doesn't seem to have a name but it came in this neon orange and a bright borderline neon purple (which I also bought.)

The nail art on top is just 3 descending size dots arcing clockwise at both top and bottom.

Light Off

Light On!

Also, tomorrow is my Birthday and I've already gotten one awesome polish related gift (Thanks Marian!)  So, I'll have some great stuff to show you over the weekend.

What do you guys think of neon nails?  I'm always a little shocked by the intensity of the colour but I kinda love it! =)

Til next time,
Amanda

Parrot Nail Art: Polly Wants Something Better Than Crackers

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to add some nail art to Color Club - Metamorphosis as it was the last of the Color Club collection that I swatched.  I was a little stumped so I went to the old painting magazines my Mom got me and found this little guy.

Isn't he cute?  I guess I shouldn't call him Polly if I'm going to keep referring to him as a guy. =)

Anyways, he was inspired by some Parrots designed for Painting Magazine by Donna Dewbury for the August 2000 issue.

I was really happy with this little guy!  I'd felt in a bit of a slump but maybe I'm coming out of it.  I really liked the back feathers on the ring finger but my nails are so curved you can't see them and his face in the same shot.

I used acrylic paint for this design.

What do you guys think?

=)

Til next time,

Amanda



Swatches: Color Club Take Wing Collection for Summer 2012 + Review

Hello Everyone!

Last week when I went shopping, I found an unexpected surprise.  I was supposed to be shopping for swaps and co-workers.  But, look what asked to come home with me!

Color Club Take Wing Collection

Shopping for Color Club here in Canada is a bit hit or miss.  I can never be sure new collections are going to show up or how much I'll find them for.  Often, I can get the sets from previous collections on sale at Winner's.  I think this is maybe how it is at Ross in the US?  Anyway. finding a brand new collection was a very pleasant surprise.

I swatched them all up, so here we go...

Tangled Up in Blue

Hehe, because I'm a fan of Arrested Development (and I'm excited that we get 10 NEW episodes next year) I considered calling this post, "I just Blue myself."  But, I thought as a post title without explanation that might be somewhat inappropriate.  So I'll just discuss it at length here. =)

I went with Robert Zimmerman AKA Bob Dylan for the post title. 

Either are appropriate though, because today I have for you an amazing blue.

Isn't that a gorgeous colour?  I just love it.  It's Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pacific Blue. 2 coats.  It's even more vibrant in person.

I did put some nail art on this but you have to wait until May to see it as I'm saving it for my 31 Days of Nail Art challenge. =)

What do you think of the colour?

'Til next time,
Amanda

Just a Little Off Centre

Hello Everyone!

How are you all today?

I've got something pretty simple for you today.  Nonetheless, I was really happy with this.  I thought it had a somewhat mod-ish feel to it.

Look! I've got a right hand!

All I did was two coats of China Glaze - Liquid Leather then four dots with a medium sized dotting tool a little off centre down each nail in China Glaze - White on White.

Pretty simple right?  I really liked how it looked though.

What do you think?

Til next time,
Amanda

Rainbowify Me's Great Giveaway!

Hello Everyone!

I'd just like to bring you attention to a great giveaway.  Rainbowify Me is celebrating 100 followers with a giveaway with several prizes.  She's a lovely blogger and you should definitely check out her blog. =)

click the photo to be taken to the giveaway.

Like a Bird on a Wire

Hello Everyone!

I've got a bit of nail art for you today.  It didn't turn out quite as I had expected but I didn't dislike it.  I'd been planning to do this for quite a while but I wasn't sure that I could pull it off and I'm still not thrilled with it,  I think this is an idea I may revisit when my skills get better.

This mani was basically inspired by what I see outside my window everyday.  I live on the Pacific Ocean and there are a LOT of crows around.  Not many seagulls, just lots of crows.  Anyway, I wanted to paint them as I saw them.  My original plan was very thin lines and lots of birds but when the line came out so thick, proportionately I had to do bigger birds.

So, what do you think?  I don't know why I've been loving white nails so much lately but I have. 

I should mention that The Daily Nail recently had a mani up with a similar theme.  Our art is VERY different but I should just mention that it exists.   I can honestly say that I had planned to do these like this since well before I saw her design.

Well that is it for today kiddos!  I'm busy working on some art that won't be on display here until May when I do the 31 day challenge.

So, any ornithologists out there?

Til next time,

Amanda

P.S. Have you all entered my giveaway?

Accent Nail!

Oh dear.  I'm being a bit cheeky here. 

But, you know how once you have an idea sometimes you just can't really come up with anything else? I just kept coming back to this.

It's an accent nail.

Get it?  My keyboard isn't bilingual but my computer is set up to be because I need to write in French sometimes.  Unfortunately, this means that I forget the layout of my keyboard and that almost every time I try to type an apostrophe, I get "è"  The result? I have accents on the brain a lot.

So when I started brainstorming accent nails this was what kept coming back to me. =)  I'm brainstorming because Rejoice!  is holding an accent nail - nail art contest.

From nail bed to nail tip, we have: accent aigu, accent grave, accent circonflexe, cédille, umlauts, tilde.

What do you guys think? =)

Til next time,
Amanda

Konadlicious Amazing Giveaway

I don't often blog about give aways but this is really one that you should know about.

Konadlicious is so appreciative of her over 3000 followers that she is giving away a prize with a combined worth of 500$  It's Amazing!

Click the photo to be taken to the giveaway...

Rock-It

Hello Everyone!

I decided not to do the GNR tribute nails for obvious reasons but I did still have the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame on the brain so I went with this...

It's Orly - Rock-It.  It's a gorgeous colour that looks especially lovely in the bottle.  I didn't capture it well but the bottle is a gorgeous wine-ish colour with lots of gold and pink tones in there.  On the nail they combine to make a gorgeous polish with lots of the gold and pinkish shimmer catching the light.  I wouldn't really call this a Spring polish but it is still beautiful at any time of the year.

I did some polish shopping today.  I was trying to limit myself but I did find an unexpected surprise that I did pick up but I was buying a lot for other people.  Swaps and girls at work.  I think they'll all be pleased! =)

I'll probably post what I got tomorrow. Plus I've still got some giveaway winnings to show you!

Til next time,
Amanda =)

Red Hot Mama

Post title is because I heard Nazareth - Hair of the Dog on the radio.  But, it is appropriate!

Today I'm going to do a little something different.  I'm just going to post a swatch!  I don't think I've ever done that before.  I had planned to add some nail art to it but events this week regarding the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame leaves me wondering if I should bother with what I had planned.

I've been wearing these plain for the last 2 days in the meantime. (Does anyone remember that great song from the 90s called In The Meantime?  It was by Spacehog.  They were basically one hit wonders but the lead singer did get to marry Liv Tyler.  Ok. /tangent) The pictures, however, are from when I first painted them.

Sometimes a colour is just enough!  These are a gorgeous deep red.  I love them even more in person.  The colour is China Glaze - Salsa which I believe is part of their core line.  So it should be easily available!

I had planned on putting some nail art on here honouring Guns N' Roses being inducted into the hall of fame.  After Axl Rose's shenanigans this week, I'm not sure I should bother.  They were my absolute favourite band when I was a kid and I had wanted to recapture that love for a moment.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping and it is somewhat guilt-free.  A couple of the girls from work want some nail stuff so I get to look at and buy polishes without the expense.  Plus, I'm buying polishes for 2 swaps, so surely those purchases don't count either.  Right?

Plus, I received 2 giveaway wins in the last couple days so I'll post swatches and pics over the weekend.

Hope you are all looking forward to a great weekend.
'Til next time,
Amanda

Don't forget my Giveaway!

Crocodile Skin + 100 Followers!

Hello Everyone!

There are now 103 104 of you (potentially) reading this!  Thank you to everyone following and welcome to all the new followers.  I feel like I'm just getting started so I hope to show you a lot of neat stuff.

I don't have another giveaway planned just yet because the other one is still going on.  But, I'll see what I can do when it finishes! =)

Anyway, nails!

I saw a pair of sunglasses at work with crocodile skin print on the arms.  It looked pretty hot.  I, of course wondered how it would look on nails.  It was all in black and since I love me some black nails, (plus after pastel nails, I have an inherent knee-jerk reaction to go dark) I figured I'd give it a try.

I liked this but I didn't love it.  It was quite subtle in person and these definitely aren't going to be the nails that someone crosses the street to compliment you on but I was happy overall.

I did a quick google search to see what other kinds of crocodile nails existed and I couldn't find anything like this.  I found lots of people using a Barry M shatter that looked croc skin like and I found a few people had painted actual crocodiles on their nails.  With the popularity of croc skin items, I thought there would be more.

Anyway, what do you think?

Pass or fail?

'Til next time,
Amanda

Shopping Haul (Very Pic Heavy!)

Hello Everyone!

My friend Sharon and I recently went shopping in the next city over.  I hit up several stores while I was there and picked up 16 polishes.

First, we hit Shoppers.  I picked up Gosh - Miss Mole and Gosh - Midnight Blue from the discount bin.



Gosh - Miss Mole

Gosh - Midnight Blue

Lots more after the jump.

My Easter Mani aka Spots + Stripes

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick post today to show you my Easter nails.  I wasn't feeling inspired by Easter at all.  I liked some of the polka dotted manis I was seeing so I came up with my own variation.  I used very spring-like colours and threw in some stripes for variety.

The base colour is China Glaze - Peachy Keen and the purples are China Glaze - Gothic Lolita and China Glaze - Sweet Hook.

I'm quite happy with this.  It's sweet and simple without being too easter-ish.  That being said, look for some nail art from me in a day or two.  I've got some ideas rattling in my brain and Monday and Tuesday off so I'll be painting nails. =)

Happy Easter Everyone!

'Til next time,
Amanda